Union Stance Demonstrates Important
Agreement Between Conservatives and Organized Labor

International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James
P. Hoffa told The National Center for Public Policy Research that
the Teamsters will hold politicians accountable for their opposition
to oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
during this fall's political campaigns.

In a statement delivered to The National Center's John P. McGovern
MD Center for Environmental and Regulation Affairs, Hoffa said:
"ANWR provides expanded energy resources and increased work
opportunities for Teamster members and their families. We cannot
understand how so-called friends of working families can stand
in the way of responsible job creation like ANWR, which already
has bipartisan support to pass on a straight up or down vote.
Teamster members will 'Remember in November' and hold those politicians
accountable for their actions which hurt working families. We
can do no less."

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has 1.4 million
members in 568 local unions nationwide. The biggest concentrations
of Teamsters members are located in the central and eastern United
States. During his inauguration as general president of the union
on March 22, Hoffa cited ANWR exploration as one of the Teamsters'
key issues.

Although the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved
energy legislation supported by President George W. Bush that
includes ANWR exploration, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
(D-SD) has refused to allow the U.S. Senate to vote on the legislation.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the ANWR
is estimated to contain between 5.7 and 16 billion barrels of
oil - enough to replace half of all the oil the U.S. currently
imports from the Persian Gulf region for 35 years. Only 2,000
of the ANWR's 19.5 million acres will be affected by the exploration,
and wildlife in the region will not be harmed.

"Labor unions and conservatives have worked hand-in-glove,
fighting the powerful environmental lobby to open ANWR to oil
and gas exploration," said Tom Randall, director of the John
P. McGovern MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs.
"Hopefully, they will continue to work together on environmental
issues because they have a common goal: American jobs."

The John P. McGovern, MD Center for Environmental and Regulatory
Affairs is a project of The National Center For Public Policy
Research, a non-partisan, non-profit education foundation. For
more information, contact Tom Randall at T773-857-5086 or [email protected].